As promised, we will delve into spiritual gifts these next couple of weeks. First, let’s look at the spiritual gifts long ago in the Old Testament? We see leadership gifts in Moses, Joshua, David, and others.
We have stunning examples of prophetic gifts like those of Isaiah whom we often quote or the weeping prophet, Jeremiah or a simple shepherd like Amos. To each of these prophets, God gave the gift of prophecy as they proclaimed the glory of the Lord and often foretold of things to come. They are frequently quoted as saying, “And the Lord said . . .”
Let’s consider Isaiah who served under four different kings for sixty years. In the year that the first king died, Isaiah was in the temple. He saw what seemed to be the Lord on a high throne with his train filling the temple. He heard angels calling out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.” Isaiah felt the door posts shake at the sounds. He even smelled smoke as it filled the temple in the presence of the Lord.
Was Isaiah a perfect man? Of course not. Remember his response to this grand revelation that penetrated all his senses? He said,
“Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the king, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5
Isaiah had previously been pleading with the people,
“Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah 2:5
He spewed forth woes on the people.
“Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit . . .” Isaiah 5:19
“Woe to those who call evil good.” Isaiah 5:20
“Woe to the greedy and drinkards.” And yet, when he was confronted in the temple with the very presence of God himself, he realized his own sin—”Woe is me.”
It is the same with us today, God will pour out his Spirit on us only when we have emptied ourselves and bowed to him in humility. Oh, ours may not be such a dramatic experience as was Isaiah’s, but we, too, must give ourselves over to the Lord.
It is then that the Lord will turn the talents he has given us into spiritual gifts of blessing.
We’ll talk about that next week as we look at gifts of the spirit in the New Testament and in our own lives.
An anecdote from my college days: Our touring choir was beginning a concert in a church. We started with a short piece as a call to worship. It began, “The Lord is in His holy temple.” When we repeated this line, we heard a loud swish like the closing of a huge door. It felt a bit startling as though the Lord had just entered! I always smile at the remeberance of that incident, especially when I read this Isaiah passage.
~ Joyce ~